Islamo-leftists have a penchant for vilifying and sermonising Hindus about their religious beliefs and festivals. Diwali is reserved for guilt-tripping Hindus for bursting firecrackers, Holi for an agenda on ‘consent’ and animal rights, and similar narratives accompany festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Karwa Chauth and so on. For Navratri, particularly Garba events, the Islamo-leftist coterie has assigned the imperative of inclusivity and secularism. In a latest bid of vilifying Hindus for celebrating their festivals the way they want and with whom they want, The Indian Express has lamented that Hindu groups are ‘pushing out’ Muslims even as Garba is recognised by UNESCO as an event that promotes unity in diversity.
The Indian Express invokes the 2023 UNESCO inscription commending Garba as inclusive, to argue that ‘pushing out’ non-Hindus makes the festival exclusionary
On 19th October, The Indian Express article headlined, “How saffron groups are ‘pushing out’ non-Hindus of Navratri events”, cherry-picks a few incidents of confrontations and announcements at Navratri Garba events in Gujarat to weave a narrative that there is a systematic “saffron” campaign of exclusion against Muslims that contradicts the UNESCO’s recognition of Garba as inclusive.
“In 2023, the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee, while awarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage tag to the garba had said: “…a means of collective celebration, garba promotes unity in diversity and fosters social equality by bringing together people of all genders, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. Every generation redefines garba through new performing styles, lyrics and dress while keeping the circle of feminine energy/Shakti intact,” the Indian Express article reads.
“The inscription by UNESCO read, “…Garba fosters social equality by diluting socio-economic, gender and religious structures. It continues to be inclusive of diverse and marginalised communities, thus strengthening social bonds,” it adds.
Citing the UNESCO inscription, The Indian Express contended, “And yet the religious divide continues to broaden with right-wing Hindu groups, particularly the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, giving memorandums to police asking to keep “non-Hindus” out of Navratri celebrations.”
Amusingly, UNESCO inscription text, The Indian Express cited, itself defeats the newspaper’s argument that Garba is becoming non-inclusive and broadens the religious divide.
The UNESCO inscription essentially hailed Garba as a devotional dance performed by the devotees of Shakti, the divine feminine energy, by installing the image of Maa Amba.
While the UN body said that Garba dilutes socio-economic, gender and religious structures, and is inclusive of diverse and marginalised communities, it nowhere indicated that Garba’s inclusive character encompasses ‘welcoming’ non-Hindus, particularly Muslims.
In fact, even if the UNESCO inscription’s aspirational ‘unity in diversity’ framing is interpreted as inclusion of even non-Hindus into Garba celebrations, Hindus are not dependent on a UN body to decide how and with whom Hindus should or should not celebrate their festivals.
Garba is strictly a religious dance, a form of worship of Maa Durga; it is not a cultural or faith-neutral public disco non-Hindus can partake in.
When common Hindus or ‘saffron groups’, be it the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or the Bajrang Dal, issue guidelines for participants to apply Tilak, perform aarti, and restrict non-Hindus from entering Garba pandals, they are essentially exercising ordinary religious and associational rights.
Although the commercialisation of Garba events warrants a serious debate, as it is to a great extent diluting the spiritual purpose of this form of worship, it does not mean that Hindus are obliged to admit people who do not believe in the Hindu Goddess and consider it a Shirk or Haram to associate partners with the Islamic god, Allah, just because a bunch of low-on-self-respect liberals are too keen to reduce Hindu festivals to cultural-regional celebrations that transcend religious boundaries.
In fact, several incidents cited in The Indian Express article itself involve identity mismatches or Hindu-sounding aliases: Razzak Pathan identified on an event card as Aayush Patel.
While The Indian Express highlighted a few incidents of Hindu groups preventing the entry of Muslim men to Garba Pandals, the newspaper made no mention of the numerous cases of Muslims creating a ruckus, desecrating the Pandals, secretly recording Hindu women dancing, and furthering their rape jihad agenda.
Hindu festivals, including Durga Puja and Garba, are inclusive; they bring people, specifically devotees of Maa Durga, together regardless of caste, skin colour, gender, social status or political ideologies. However, this inclusivity is not by default extended to Muslims or Christians or any community or individuals who are not adherents of Hinduism or devotees of Maa Durga.
There are a few questions from The Indian Express and anyone of the view that a Muslim ban from Garba events undermines inclusivity:
- Why is it that those who cannot even stand a Hindu, the Kafir of the highest order, even uttering the facts mentioned in Islamic texts, want to participate in festivals of Hindus?
- Why do those who kill a Hindu youth over a drop of colour splashing on them during Holi want to participate in a dance performed in honour of Maa Durga?
- Why do those who don’t want to say Bharat Mata ki Jai and sing Vande Mataram because it glorifies Maa Durga want to do devotional dance for the Hindu Goddess?
- Why is it that only Muslim men want to participate in Garba celebrations and not Muslim women? Does Islam restrict only Muslim women from partaking in festivities of non-Muslims? Muslim women should stay in Burqa or hijab, but Muslim men can dance in honour of Maa Durga?
- Why is it that Muslim men who are eager to participate in Garba functions get infuriated and resort to hurling abuses against Muslim women who want to participate in Garba?
- Why are Hindu festivals burdened with the idea of accommodating and promoting ‘inclusivity’?
- Why is it that Muslims, who believe in the idea of Islamic exclusivity and supremacy, particularly in Islamic countries, conveniently invoke democracy and secularism in Hindu-majority India to secure broader societal access?
Just recently, a Muslim woman, who claims to be a Bombay High Court lawyer, said online that her heart bleeds that Garba events are being allowed to be organised in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah, saying that the ‘sacred land of Islam ‘should not permit such “haram activities”.
The performance of Garba is essentially a religious affair that does promote inclusivity within the Hindu fold. It is not an irreligious cultural event like a Halloween party.
Garba is strictly a Dharmic dance performed by the devotees of Maa Durga during Navratri in her honour for liberating the world from the terror of demons and in celebration of the victory of Dharma over Adharma. It is a celebration of the feminine form of the divine. Garba is not a government scheme that every ‘minority’ citizen has a right to.
Even for availing Sarkari scheme benefits, there are certain criteria. If any non-Hindu, particularly Muslims whose faith clearly directs them not to associate partners with their God, Allah, or partake in the celebration of the festivals of polytheists like Hindus, want to join Garba celebrations, they should revert to Sanatan Dharma, invoke devotion for Maa Durga and maybe then they can be allowed to participate in Garba events.
Restricting Muslims or anyone from entering Durga Puja pandals who does not have genuine devotion for Maa Durga is not discriminatory but simply the preservation of the sanctity of Garba.
In fact, if Muslims or non-Hindus are so secular and are interested in performing Garba, why don’t they organise Durga Puja in mosques?
Wouldn’t it be, perhaps, the greatest display of secularism, inclusivity, unity in diversity and the liberal-coveted pre-2014 ‘idea of India’?
However, The Indian Express will not indulge in any such advocacy. This is apparently because a significant section of Hindus, intellectuals and the mainstream media ecosystem have been conditioned into believing that since Hindus form India’s religious majority, and their polytheistic faith is inherently tolerant and accommodative, they must bear the burden of upholding the mythical syncretic culture, ‘Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb’, inclusivity, idea of India and whatnot, while other communities are largely exempt from shouldering this burden.
Delusional leftists, especially those in media, have been playing a key role in secularising, rather, de-Hinduising Hindu festivals.
Onam, the Hindu festival rooted in the Hindu scriptural legend of the greatness of King Mahabali (also known as Raja Bali) and how Lord Vishnu, in his Vamana avatar, gave him a boon that he could come back to meet his subjects once a year, has been reduced to a mere harvest festival.
In Tamil Nadu, Hindu-hating Dravidianists have been executing a similar playbook to secularise Pongal or Makar Sankranti and dissociate it from its Hindu religious roots. Just as Onam is being labelled a ‘cultural’ festival in Kerala, Pongal is being promoted as a ‘Tamil’ festival of agrarian gratitude in Tamil Nadu.
This de-hyphenation of religion from Hindu festivals has also been noticed in movies and commercial ad films over the years, with Diwali becoming ‘festival of lights’, Holi becoming ‘festival of colours’ and Garba being reduced to a folk dance.
It is interesting that the same people who argue that Hindu processions should not stop outside mosques, pass from ‘Muslim areas’ or play loud religious music there to preserve ‘communal harmony’, want Hindus to lay a red carpet for Muslims to enter Garba events even though their religion prohibits them from partaking in the festivities of non-Muslims, and perhaps molest Hindu women or unleash violence.
The Indian Express invited “journalists” to demonise VHP over its call to bar Muslims from Garba events
It, however, is unsurprising that The Indian Express is vilifying Hindus for pushing back against de-Hinduisation of Garba.
Days after the VHP gave calls for barring Muslims from Garba events in late September 2026, The Indian Express hosted an interview with “author” and “journalist” Girish Kuber, conducted by another “journalist” Shubhangi Khapre, where the two repeatedly railed against the issue, even referring to the VHP as “Hindu Taliban” and describing its appeal as a “fatwa.”
They even claimed that Garba is a commercial event, and Hindus should allow Muslims to celebrate Navratri in their homes.
Liberals advocate unrestricted access for Muslims to Garba,
While The Indian Express chose to selectively highlight the Hindu reactionary measures and totally skipped any mention of the root cause, the Muslim crimes, OpIndia has extensively been documenting how Garba events have also faced desecration and violence; this sacred celebration has been targeted for love and rape jihad by Islamists.
On 17th October 2026, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) woman municipal councillor and her family were harassed and threatened twice while travelling to a Raas Garba event in Ahmedabad by Muslim men.
In September 2025, during Navratri, Muslim boys were caught filming female participants of a Garba celebration at a college in Mumbai’s Virar West. On checking one of the boys’ phones, the organisers reportedly found multiple videos of girls, alongside obscene chats and conversations that outlined plans to lure Hindu girls into relationships and “ruin” them.
Some of the leaked messages contained disturbing instructions, with one explicitly urging that not a single Hindu girl be “left untouched” after entering the Garba grounds. In the same college, obscene comments were also made by posting videos of students on the Discord App during the Dandiya program.
In a garba programme in Benisar Bari area in 2025, Muslim youths forcibly entered the pandal and molested the women. The Muslim men forcibly danced with women. When other participants resisted, stone pelting began. At least 5 people were injured, and police vehicles were damaged. Police later arrested 12 people in connection with the incident.
Last year, two Muslim youths, Suhail Siddiqui and Saif, were caught infiltrating during the Navaratri event in Kanpur. They made obscene comments about the Hindu girls. After a complaint from a female police officer present at the venue, both were arrested.
A Maa Durga idol was damaged on 21st September 2025 in Mumbai’s Mankhurd area. The incident happened near a mosque where Muslims objected to the sound of drums being played during the welcome procession of the idol.
Last year, one Mohsin Khan threw eggs from the 16th floor of the building during a garba event at the JP North Gardgarn City Society on Mira Road East in Mumbai.
In October 2024, it was reported that in Madhya Pradesh’s Alirajpur, Muslim youths molested a woman returning from the Garba event.
In another incident during 2024 Navratri, a Muslim youth named Feroz attended a garba event using a fake Hindu identity in Ujjain. Feroz posed as Rahul and entered the Garba Pandal with condoms. Yes, you read it right: he was carrying condoms at the Hindu religious event and was caught by the activists of Hindu Jagran Manch.
In the Guna district, it was reported that five Muslim boys entered the Garba Pandal under suspicious circumstances, as told by the police and were detained in 2024.
In October 2023, it was reported that one Fareed Shah attempted to enter the Garba Pandal in Hyderabad’s Begumpet Hockey Stadium by posing as a Hindu person named Ashish to lure a Hindu girl. He was stopped by Bajrang Dal activists.
In October 2022, it was reported that 8 Muslim men were detained by the police in Indore for trying to enter garba venues by concealing their identities. In another incident from the same year, it was reported that a Muslim person was arrested for passing lewd remarks about Hindu women at a Garba Pandal in Palsikar colony.
On 1st October 2022, a Hindu youth named Madhusudan Modi was attacked with a knife by three Islamists named Shahrukh, Zubair, and Samir at a dandiya event held in Bikaner in Rajasthan. These Muslim youths were molesting girls who had come to play Garba.
On 1st October 2022, six Hindu students were attacked by four accused, identified as Rathod Amin Gulab Nabi, Nizami Moin Nurmahammad, Ganchi Amanbhai Firozbhai, and Chauhan Mahamadnuman Mahamadhanif, for objecting to Islamic songs being played during a Garba event at BK Patel Arts & Commerce College of Savli in Vadodara. The four accused attacked the Hindu students with iron belts and stones.
On September 30 2022, some Muslim youths forcefully entered the Garba venue in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The Muslim youths, however, fled as soon as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists arrived.
In the same year, seven Muslim youths were arrested by the police from the Garba pandal of Pandharinath in Indore. They were reportedly making videos of Hindu girls.
In 2023, OpIndia reported that in Gujarat’s Bharuch, Muslims of the Ikhar village had threatened the Hindu tribal community not to organise Navratri and said they would pelt stones if the event was held, declaring that it was a ‘Muslim area’.
Bottom line
Hindus preserving the ritual integrity and sanctity of their festivals dedicated to their Goddess, checking for identity fraud in such large gatherings, and urging organisers to set criteria are not attacks on secularism, pluralism or religious tolerance. Rather, these are precautionary measures in the wake of a reported pattern of entry by mostly Muslim men under false pretences. A UNESCO recognition of a living Hindu tradition does not obligate its practitioners to secularise or open it on terms set by the left liberals who take delight in otherwise mocking Hindu festivals and traditions.
Instead of peddling the ‘exclusion’ narrative, The Indian Express and the overenthusiastic leftist lot will do better if they understand that true unity in diversity is not when Hindus relinquish their sacred boundaries; instead, it is when these boundaries are respected by each community.
